Toothbrush cabinet



March 10, 1925.

B L. HOCH TOOTHBRUSH CABINET Original Filed May 20, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS March 10, 1925. 1,529,024

B. L. HocH TOOTHBRUSH CABINET Original Filed y 20. 192 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 10, 1925.

. I 1,529,024 UNITED STATES- PATENT oFFlcE.

BENJAMIN LESTER KOCH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TOOTEBRUSH CABINET.

Application filed May 20, 1821, Serial No. 471,098. Renewed July 18, 1924.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN LESTER Hoorr, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York city, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toothbrush Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relatesto an improved form of sanitary wall cabinet for storing and sterilizing tooth brushes. It is the present practice in most households to leave the tooth brushes of the different members of the family either exposed to the outside air or to mount them on a rack in the medicine closet where they are only indifierently protected from dust and are subjected to, and

not infrequently absorb, some of the disagreeable chemical odors which may happen to be present in the medicine cabinet. Further it not infrequently happens that there is some confusion in the identification of the tooth brushes of the different members of the family and of course any accidental use of the wrong tooth brush is very apt to have an unpleasant if not unsanitary effect.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the invention is to provide a simple tooth brush containing and treating cabinet by means of which each brush can be housed in its easil identified position and by means of whic each brush when so housed will be subjected to a continuous bacteriological and chemical cleansing treatment so that the user is always assured that his particular brush is clean.

The invention further features a device of the class outlined which will be extremely simple in structure, so as to minimize the cost of production and which will be designed to facilitate the ready cleaning of the cabinet while in position.-

Still another object of the invention is to provide a cabinet which features small size and from which any desired brush can be removed quickly and conveniently without any necessity of the user touching any other brush in the assemblage.

Still another object of the invention, and featuring economy in the use of the material necessary to construct the device, is the desire to rovide an organization of parts which will insure the storing and diffusing of an antiseptic, referably of the class of such substances which will generate a lighter-than-air sterilizing gas, and the locating of the brush supportmg rack in the cabinet Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious from an inspection of the accompanying drawings and in part will be more fully set forth in the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying my invention, and the invention also consists in certain new and novel features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the invention with the door in closed position;

Figure 2 is a view in front elevation of the showing in Figure 1 with the door in open position, with part of the front of the casing broken away to show internal construction, and with a plurality of different sized tooth brushes shown in ghost outline and mounted in the cabinet;

Figures 3 and 5 are each horizontal sectiona'l. views taken respectively on the lines 33 and 5-5 of Fi re 4; and

Figure 4 is a vertlcalfsectional on the line 44 of Figure 2.

In the following description and in the claims, parts will be identified by specific names for convenience of expression but they are intended to be'as generic in their application to similar parts as the art will permit.

In the drawings there is shown a cabinet having a relatively small dimension from front to rear, having a height to accomview taken vice is intended to be used, and having a width largely dependent on the number of tooth brushes for which the cabinet is designed. In the illustrated showing the cabinet is formed of sheet metal as this lends itself to a sim le stampin operation in the formation of t e parts an the providing of a device which is neat in a pearance and which can be finished with w l nte enamel or other coating to give a clean looking effect.

The cabinet il ustrated includesa back 10, bottom 11, top 12, front portion 13 and connectingside portions 14. The front pormodate the tooth brushes for which the detion 13 is provided with an opening which, considered vertically, is of a size to permit the ready removal of the tooth brushes therefrom, as shown more particularly in Figure 2. The back is provided with several screw holes 15 so arranged that when the cabinet is disposed in position against a Hat support such as a wall, and-screws disposed in the holes 15 the interior of the casing is hermetically sealed. The front opening is hermetically sealed by means of a door 16 hinged by means of conventional hinge connections 17 to one side of the front 13.

It will be thus seen that when the door is closed the interior of the mounted cabinet is hermetically sealed and thus encloses the antiseptic fumes, gases or other substances desired to be confined in the cabinet.

A series of lugs 16 project into the interior of the casing from the sides 14 and are positioned below the lower edge of the door opening to provide a support for a removable partition 17 which acts to divide the interior of the cabinet into two compartments, a lower antiseptic-containingcompartment 18, containing an absorbent fabric 19 and into an upper, tooth-brushcontaining-compartment 20 facing the opening. The partition 17 is provided with perforations 21 so as to permit the antiseptic fumes to rise from the compartment 18 and diffuse throughout the compartment 20. The partition is provided with a handle 22 which facilitates the ready removal of the partition when recharging the antiseptic-containing-compartment. V

A tooth brush supporting rack 23 projects forwardly from the back 10 into the tooth brush containing compartment 20. The rack is provided at its front edge with a plurality of horizontally spaced apart tooth brush handle containing recesses 24. which are designed to receive the reduced neck portion a of the tooth brushes 6. This rack is so disposed relative to the top 12 of the cabinet that the bristle portions 0 of the brushes are close to the top and in position so as to be contained within the body of the fi antiseptic gases which collect at the upper portion of the tooth brush containing com partment. In order to maintain the presence of this light gas within the compartment. even when the door is opened. the upper portion of the front extends downwardly for some material distance to form :1 depending flange apron 25 as shown more particularly in Figure 2. As there is no leakage through the top of the cabinet it will be seen that there will, at all times, be present some of the antiseptic gases in the upper bristle containing portion of the cabinet. It is appreciated that this flange will be made as deep as possible, taking into consideration the desire to have the brushes removed easily from the compartment without unnecessarily increasing its all over depth.

In order to feature the small depth of the cabinet as a whole the rack 23 is disposed relative to the top of the antiseptic containing compartment so that there will be just suflicient room to accommodate the handle poi-timid of the longest brush in the set without any material excessive waste space below the tooth brushes.

In operation it will be understood that the cabinet, properly cleaned, will have its antiseptic containing compartment charged with an antiseptic, preferably of the type which will generate fumes lighter than air. The fumes will gradually form, pass upwardly through the perforations 21, traverse past all portions of the brushes and accumulate in the upper portion of the compartment in position to maintain a permanent bath of antiseptic gases about the bristle portion of 'the brushes. The gases will, of course, eventually penetrate to all parts of the bristles and in a short time the brushes will be sterile.

\Vhen the door is in closed position the gases are held within the cabinet but when it is desired to use one of the brushes the door can be opened, the proper brush removed and the door quickly closed. When cleaned the used brush can be restored to its proper recess in the rack and the door carefully closed. As the charge of antiseptic be comes exhausted the partition can be removed, a fresh charge of antiseptic poured onto the absorbent material 19, the partition replaced and the device is ready for continued use.

By means of a device of this character it is possible to maintain .each tooth brush separatedfrom all the other tooth brushes in the set and at the same time there is insured that each brush is properly treated with the contained antiseptic. As the cabinet is dust and even air tight the contained brushes are protected and in general a neat. easily constructed and pleasing bath room xture is provided:

While I have shown and described, and have pointed out in the annexed claims, certain novel features of my invention, it will be understood that. various omissions. substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and-in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A tooth brush cabinet comprising a sheet metal body portion provided with an opening in the front thereof, lugs projecting from opposite sides of the body portion into the interior of the cabinet adjacent the hottom thereof, a perforated partition removably located on said lugs withdrawable bodily through the opening and coacting to form an antiseptic containing compartment in the lower portion of the cabinet, a plate extending between the side Walls of the cabinet and constituting a tooth brush supporting rack secured to said body portion adjacent its upper portion, said rack provided along its outer edge with a plurality of horizontally spaced apart brush handle receiving recesses, each adapted to receive the handle of a tooth brush, said rack being positioned above the partition a distance to accommodate the handle portion of the brushes therebetween and thus position the brushes above the antiseptic containing compaitment and a metallic door for closing said front opening.

Signed at New York city, in the county of Kings and State of New ork, this 17th day of May, A. D. 1921..

BENJAMIN LESTER HOCH. 

